While researching history on the artist she's using for her book- a book that's sure to push her into her dream job as curator for the museum she works for-the heroine unwittingly discovers a time port through Amazon of all things and finds herself in the 1600th century. There, stark naked and horribly confused she realizes soon enough that not only has she traveled back in time but she's in the presence of the lesser known artist Peter Lely. Instantly she's captive by his cool sexy attitude and his whole promiscuous artist reputation succeeds in drawing her in even though she knows she shouldn't be. She's known her far share of cheating men, her ex fiancé in prime example. But something about this man makes her hot and bothered, especially when she vows to take her time in history and have a portrait painted by a famous artist. The hero is horribly tormented by guilt. He feels deep shame over the fact that he didn't marry the woman he loved and she died not having the dignity of his name. As such, she is reborn again and again without him. In a bid to grant her peace he accepts his mission from the time cops to return to his previous life and stop a rebel time travel from using his story as a means to disturb the time flow. He is both horrified and yet captivated by the strange woman in his studio who so resembles his dead love. Together under the glow of candle light and under the impulse of wine, they sleep together. Then he realized who she is-the author who he's been sent back to betray. The heroine realizes that he's been lying to her the entire night and she returns to the present with a bitterness in her heart. Upon realizing the hero has ruined her chance of publishing her book she instead turns to writing his biography-painting him as the man whore she thinks he is. The hero, upon realizing this is her intent, rebels against the time cops and travels to the present in an attempt to stop her. From there they slowly realize the truth about one another and also realize the love that's grown between the two of them. But just like Romeo and Juliet, just like Casablanca. their romance can never truly be. Not when the hero is destined to return to the afterlife. This story was very convoluted. It jumped from one thing to another and I kept having to re read a couple of pages thinking that I'd missed something. Like how did the heroine return to the present? One moment she was sleeping with the hero the next she's at her commuting plotting her revenge. It felt like there were a whole bunch of missing scenes and as such felt disjointed and confusing as hell. Maybe it was just me, though. I found the dialogue to be witting and very smart. In that aspect the story had flow and I found myself charmed by the heroine's humor and pop culture references (I'm not known to like that sort of personality so I was amazed to find myself quite enjoying all the witty retorts). I was also touched by the scene where the heroine finds out the truth of the hero's lost lady love and felt the consuming and soul wrenching despair as he sobbed and cried talking about how he betrayed her. This was an odd book and there were things I didn't for (i.e. the fiancé/ex fiancé and her asshole of a sister) but at the same time and in equal measure I loved other things about it(i.e. the way the heroine could make the hero laugh and he willing to do anything to right a wrong he made to the woman he loved) and found it funny, sad and well written. But at the same time I felt the book dragged at certain places and 100 some odd pages were dedicated to just one night when the heroine went into the past and slept with the hero-the major of the book is set in the present. As such I thought it deserved a healthy 3 star rating. ( )

I love time-travel romances, I have always had a special place in my heart for them since I read Teresa Medieros' 'A Touch of Enchantment' so when I get the opportunity to read a new one, I definitely go for it. As I started reading this book there were a few things that caught me off guard from the beginning, the cover, OMG I love the cover, it's beautiful. Next, the names of the characters, Ms. Cready definitely doesn't fall back on the old standbys...there is a guy in the book named Jacket for goodness sake. Then, that Cam is definitely not the conventional romance heroine, she is quirky, witty, hilarious, clumsy, and all around a big mess but I think that is what makes her so endearing to the reader.

The plot is excellent, always something new going on, although I would have shoved my sister in a bag and threw in a lake if she treated me that way, no doubt about it. I love Peter Lely, he is an all around romantic and makes me think of Mr. Darcy a bit. I did have to catch myself doing the skimming thing a couple of times but not too often. This is an excellent book and I adore it, now I must go find Gwyn's other books because they look intriguing as well. Titles are 'Tumbling Through Time' and 'Seducing Mr. Darcy'. Definitely read this book, it is great, you will definitely fall in love with Peter and Cam. ( )

The Blog Critics Books post sums up my feelings about Flirting with Forever by Gwyn Cready perfectly: I should have read the pitch more closely. The pitch didn't have cover art, which would have made it obvious that it's a bodice ripper, so I went on the time travel description alone. Big mistake.

In the present day there's Campbell "Cam" Stratford, an art historian and author, with a scandalous "fictographies." Then in the afterlife there's Peter Lely, once famous artist, who is now tasked with stopping Cam by any means possible.

To bring the two together, a web search, opens a time portal sending Cam back to Lely's time when he was portrait painter for Charles II. Cam makes up a bunch of lies to buy herself some time but ends up being really quickly seduced by Lely.

And it goes down hill from there. Somehow Cam and Lely both gain control over this unexplained time portal. With no explanation of how it works it becomes just a convenient way of switching locations. There's similarly little in way of motivation for Cam to hook up with Lely. Sure he paints well, and sure her fiance might be more trouble than he's worth, but she goes from scared to seduced too quickly.

The parts that aren't time travel or sex are lengthy scenes of painting. This is the part of the book that one reviewer on GoodReads describes as The Girl with the Pearl Earring with severe brain damage. While I personally wouldn't go that far, it did read like a whole bunch of filler. ( )

This was my first time reading Gwyn Cready and for me it was an entertaining read. Ms Cready has a very nice writing style. I loved that humor was blended in with the romance. I did think the way that Cam got to the 16th century was a bit odd, but very creative. Flirting with Forever was a light, fun read. Full of romance and mischief. I don't read too many time-travel stories but this was a good read. If you like a bit of humor and time-travel with you romance - you'll enjoy this one. ( )

This review was originally posted on my review blog : http://fallingofftheshelf.blogspot.com

Campbell Stratford is sure to make a name for herself when she releases her sexy tell-all "fictographies" of famous seventeenth-century artists. What her readers don't know, is that she is more intimately involved with her subjects than they could ever imagine. It's all thanks to a time portal she accidentally discovered while in a frantic rush for information to make her book that much more memorable. This portal leads her straight into the arms of playboy and seventeenth-century artist, Peter Lely. It's easy to get caught up in the moment, and after posing for a portrait for a few hours on his modeling chaise, she ends up with a night of passion that one can not forget.

Peter Lely wants nothing more to do than paint, it is what makes up his world. When the Guild of the Great Beyond come to him to in a frantic effort to thwart Campbell Stratford's plans against their reputation, he agrees to help them. He sticks to the plan, and feeds her information that will surely sabotage her work. Cam on the other hand, has other plans when she learns of Peter's betrayal, and now he must travel to Cam's twenty-first century life in order to set things right.

When I first saw the cover of this novel, I was instantly intrigued. It looked magical, and like it was going to be filled with all sorts of romance. Luckily, this time I judged a book by it's cover, it was sure to deliver. In Flirting With Forever, we get not only romance, and heart pumping passion, but comedy as well. I wasn't expecting this, but this book had me giggling and unforeseen moments. I tend to get a lot of funny looks when I start giggling in the break room at my job, but I've grown accustom to this by now.

What I personally loved about this quirky novel was the fact that it was not only set in a modern setting, but a historical one as well. The first quarter of this book you get teleported back in time to seventeenth-century London, while the rest of the book is centered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I happened to enjoy the descriptions of the historical setting far better, and itched to be relocated back to that time period. Falling through time did not put a damper on this story though, as it was always up beat and ready to entertain.

This was the first time-travel romance that I have ever read, and it has me itching to read more. Luckily, author, Gwyn Cready, has a few more up her sleeve. I've already decided that I want to read more of her work, and can't wait to get my hands on her other titles, Tumbling Through Time , and Seducing Mr. Darcy. I can only hope that they will be filled with just as much romance, and humor. She also has another title scheduled to be released September 28, 2010 by Pocket Books, and this one is going to be called Aching For Always, can't wait to see how that one will turn out! ( )